Tame Impala at the Hordern Pavillion 3/5/13 - Live Review
- genevavalek
- May 2, 2013
- 3 min read
It seems as though Tame Impala have been relentlessly touring ever since the release of their critically acclaimed sophomore album, Lonerism. Recently taking on a sold out national North American tour and a performance slot at Coachella Festival alongside acts such as Vampire Weekend, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Phoenix, Tame Impala have returned to Australia to perform at Groovin’ the Moo and kick off a few sideshows as well.
Melbourne electronic three-piece, Midnight Jaggernaunts, kick started the night to a warm and welcoming crowd. The stage placement of the band was untraditional; with drummer Daniel Stricker placed front-centre stage, however, the arrangement of the three-piece soon made sense due to the number of drum-driven tracks and drum solos undertaken by the band. They performed a number of tunes their from their first album, ‘Dystopia’, sophomore album, ‘The Crystal Axis’ and a few new tracks, to a fairly amenable crowd and a few familiar fans scattered through the audience. The band have widely established themselves as one of Australia’s coolest electronica bands. Lately they have been off the road to work on their upcoming third album, ‘Uncanny Valley’, which is set to release later this year, but it’s great to see them up on the stage again.
After a short interval, four-fifths of Tame Impala emerged from the shadows and a barefoot Kevin Parker followed out to a cheering audience. A sense of excitement and anticipation flushed through the crowd and the restless five-piece gathered the energy to present another unforgettable show, but a slight technical malfunction from Kevin Parker’s guitar occurred and there was a minor change in the set list. The recognizable fuzzy guitar line of ‘Apocalypse Dreams’ faded in and the crowd threw their hands frantically in the air, singing the dreamy lyrics in unison. The band moved onto the original set list format and played “It’s Not Meant to Be”, followed by “Endors Toi” after a reassuring, “It’s working now!” from Parker, referring to his previous guitar fault.
Then came the reminiscent sonic effects of “Solitude is Bliss” from Tame Impala’s debut album,Innerspeaker, was performed and the crowd echoed the chorus line’s lonesome lyrics, “You will never come close to how I feel”. Despite the fact Parker had been sick for the past week and had only a few days to recover, his falsetto was exceptional.
The entirety of the set was accompanied by hallucinogenic, psychedelic visions and patterns on a back screen, which complimented each individual track perfectly. Later they played tracks from Lonerism, with “Elephant” and “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”, and “Mind Mischief” sending the crowd into a head banging frenzy. The pounding guitar riff of “Elephant” drove the crowd absolutely wild. Hands were flying in the air as the crowd jumped in sync to the bass drum, and Parker’s lyrics were yelled right back at him. The familiar pulsing, distorted keys of “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” was received with screams and pure enjoyment. The band closed with the nostalgic “Half Full Glass of Wine”. The speedy guitar line and hi-hat dropped to a slower pace and heads frantically nodded to the guitar progression.
Parker thanked the audience and gave an endearing “We love you, Sydney” as the band left the stage, but soon afterward, they stepped out again. The band jammed for a few minutes and multi-instrumentalist Nick Allbrook and Parker showed off their sweet dance moves. The jam transitioned into the hypnotic layers and sounds of “Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control” (phew!) and the crowd went wild.
Tame Impala illustrated to the Sydney crowd exactly why they have received a number of awards, recognition as ‘Best Live Act’ and one of Australia’s most treasurable musical talents for the past five years. Don’t miss your chance to see them at Groovin’ the Moo festival, or one of their upcoming sideshows! Electric, Magnetic. Unmissable.
Written by Crystal Yiamkiati
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